Wiring device



May 31, 1949. H. A. MIL,OCHE

lNVE/V TOR By HA. M/LOCHE ATTORNEY May 31, 1949. H. A. MILOCHE 2,471,970

WIRING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1947 2 SheetsSheet 2ucEmfinnmfiunmfimnfiunE 13mm: EHIJEl E I ABCFGHLM um um: um

i O I O. 1 LJE QLNQE j INVENTOR By HAMILOCHE ATTORNEY Patented May 31,1949 aurora WIRING DEVICE Herma .A- ,llililoel e,

.Bell tlielephoneLabD Xork, N.

'Teaneelx, :N. .L, assignor to at rieslnc rorated, N w corpo a i n ofNew York Application April 23, 1947, Serial No. 743,446

. Claims- This invention relates .to means for routing electrical wiresand more particular y 6.0 931.6 trough :type of distributing or routingmeans.

one of the many welleknown means .ior rout ing or distributingelectrical wiring is by providing .a channel or trough .type .of .guidewhich is adapted -to support and .route said wires. In some cases suchtroughs have :been provided with suitable holes therein :by means ofwhich the in.-

dividual orcables being routed thereby may i bediverted at variouspoints along the trough :for subsequent ,electrical connection toelectrical ,ap.- paratus units. One .diflioulty attendant the .use ofsuch wire distribution devices as briefly .-out.- lined above has beenthe .dimculty, if not impracticability, of adding or deleting individualwires to =01 from the said device. More specifically, when said deviceembraces a plurality .of wires it is extremely =difiicult to add a newwire -or wires between terminals-of different or the same ap paratusunits -or unit since the bundle of wires already housed in the'devicetends to obstruct the aforementioned holes in said devices through whichthe additional wire must =be threaded prior to connection withthe-intended apparatuster-minal. The same comment is applicable todeletion or removal of existing connected wires.

It is the main purpose of this invention to obviate the above-mentionedshortcomings of prior art types of trough-like wire 'or cabledistributing devices.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention a wire distributingtrough is provided which is substantially -U-shaped. Slots .are providedin the inner surfaces of the side walls of-said trough substantiallyvertical relative to the bottom of said trough. These slots aredistributed lengthwise of the trough, open at the top edges of said sidewalls and are continued as holes through the bottom of said trough. Thetrough is mounted adjacent electrical apparatus serviced thereby suchthat the outside .of :the bottom of said trough is facing the terminalor Wiring side of said apparatus. Thus no matter how many wires orcables may be accommodated by or housed in said trough a new wire may berouted in said trough and at the suitable slot, at or near the apparatusto which it is to be connected, said wire may be threaded through theslot to project through the hole in the bottom of said trough and thenconnected to the nearby terminal. The body of whatever bundle of wiresmay be resting in said slot will not and cannot obstruct or otherwiseinterfere with the holes in said .2 t oug rthrqllgh which the wires are.t threaded.

Another -feature ,of the invention is the capability of utilizing theslots ,and holes ,as designations of the apparatus terminals to whichwires thread d th rei ro l a e otennectedfeature may obviate thenecessity .of color coding of such wires.

A detailed descri t n of a em od mento t e inventiomdeseribed.generallyabove is hereinafter set forth in connection with the drawingsform ins a pa t o the disclo ure. General descript ons of he sever fiures .of said drawin s ar a follows:

Fig- 1 is a perspect ve view of a por on of a wire distributingdevieeembodying the invention;

Figs. 2 and;3 are respectively frontand rear,1o,r equipment :andterminal sides, of a portion .of a framework to which are attachedsuitable apparatus units and wire distributing devices, such as shown inFig. 1;

Fig. a is a sectionalized view taken along the line .4-4 :ofFig. -2 orBig. '3; and

Eig. .5 :is a perspective .of a part of the device shown in Fig. 1,Fig.5 :being sectionalized to more clearly show the features of theinvention.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 5 in particular, a trough is shown comprising abottom portion el and :two side walls or portions 2. and bottom I may beintegral with each other such as would result if the trough were a unitmolding. It is, of course, obvious that the sides 2 .may be fabricatedseparately and attached to the @bottom .I by any one .of numerousmethods, such as adhesion. Theends of the bottom 1| are provided zW-ithend extensions 3 which have'holes 4 .therein to enable assembly of thetrough upon equipment frames or mountings as shown by F igs52 and 3.

Spaced 'iengthwise of the trough are substantiall-yperpendicular(relative to the bottom I and sides 2) slots 5 :in the inner facesofsaid sides 2. As shown by the sectionalized view of the trough in Fig.5, these slots 5 continue as holes '6 through the bottom I of saidtrough. These slots 5 and holes 6 may be of any suitable size,consistent with available dimensions of the trough chosen, such as toaccommodate one, two, three or any desired number of wiressimultaneously.

Fig. 2 shows a portion of the front, or equipment, side of an apparatusframework mounting 1 to which are fastened apparatus units, such asrelays 8, by means of apparatus unit mounting plates 9 and screws Ill.The apparatus units, such as relay 8, may of course represent anyelectrical The sides :2

apparatus unit which may be required to be so mounted and wired. Thetrough, such as the one shown in Fig. 1, may be mounted on frame 1between mounting plates 9 of the apparatus units by means of screws II.It is not necessary that this staggered relationship be used since it isobvious that there may be numerous ways of so mounting the apparatusunits in relation to the wire troughs. Bundles l2 of wires are bound androuted to various parts of frame 1 and are housed in the wire troughs asshown. It is seen from Fig. 2 that the bundles l2 of wires in thetroughs do not obstruct or interfere in any way with the slots intowhich any wire may be inserted at will. For instance, wire l3 may bethreaded through slot 55 so as to protrude from hole 59 (see Fig. 3) andthe operation is done irrespective of whatever maze of wires may behoused in the trough.

It may be noticed by reference to Fig. 3 that the holes 6 through thebottoms l of the troughs are readily adapted as terminal designations soas to obviate color coding of wires. For instance, relay 88 hasterminals, marked A, B, C, DE, F, G, H, J, K, L and M. The holes 6adjacent this relay 88 may be marked as shown to instruct a wiremanwhich wires are to be threaded into which holes in order that the sameor another man will correctly wire same to the terminals of relay 88.Two wires may be inserted throughholes fi, as for example, the two wiresdesignated for terminals D and E or F and G or K and L-of relay 888. Inthese in stances, color coding would, of course, be required. "Three oreven more wires may be accommodated by any one slot 5or hole 6 dependingupon the particular embodiment of the invention which meets the needs ofthe application thereof desired.

Fig. 4 is a'section of Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 taken along the lines 4-4 ofthose figures. Thephysical relationship between bundles l2 of wires andthe slots 5 of sides 2 of the wire troughs clearly shows the fact thatthere is no obstruction of these slots 5 no matter how large said bundlel2 of wires may become.

It will be apparent that embodiments of the invention other than theexemplary one used herein as, a disclosure of said invention will besuggested by this disclosure. Whenever, in the appended claims, the wordtrough is used, unless further modifiedby a more specific recitation ofits configuration, it is intended to contemplate other types of troughas well as a U- shaped trough. For instance a V-shaped trough might beused or other categorically similar configurations to which might beapplied the teachings of the present invention.

Having fully described one embodiment of the invention and not intendingthat the scope of the invention be limited to said one embodiment Iappend claims ,which alone describe the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A wire distributing device comprising a trough adapted to accommodatewires therein, recessed passageways in at least one of the side walls ofsaid trough opening outside the outer layers of said wires andcontinuing as holes through the bottom of said trough, said passage waysand holes provided for the accommodation thereby of some of said wires.

2. A wire distributing device comprising a trough adapted to accommodatewires therein, recessed passageways in th inner surfaces of the sidewalls of said trough opening outside the outer layers of said wires andcontinuing as holes through the bottom of said trough, said passagewaysand holes provided for the accommodation thereby of said wires.

' 3. A wire distributing device comprising a trough adapted toaccommodate a plurality of Wires therein, the innersurfaces of the sidewalls of said trough having slots therein spaced along the length ofsaid trough, continuing beyond the outer layers of said wires andcontinuin as holes through the bottom of said trough, said slots andholes provided for the threading therethrough of said wires.

4. A wire distributing device comprising a trough having a U-shapedcross-section adapted to accommodate a plurality of wires therein, theinner surfaces of the side Walls of said trough having slots thereinspaced along the length of said trough, opening on the upper edges ofsaid walls and continuing as holes through the bottomof said trough,lsaid slots and hole provided for the threading, therethrough of saidwires irrespective of the density of wires in said trough.

5. A wire distributing device comprising a trough having a U-shapedrectangular crosssection adapted to accommodate a plurality of wireslengthwise therein, the inner surfaces of the side walls of said troughhaving slots therein substantially perpendicular to the bottom of saidvtrough, spaced along the length of said trough, opening on the upperedges of said walls and continuing as. holes through the bottom of saidtrough, saidslots and holes provided for the threadingtherethrough ofwires irrespective of the density of, wires in said trough, the saidholes arranged to designate'the terminations of respective wiresthreaded therethrough.

HERMANA. MILOCHE.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the file ofthis patent? UNITED 's'raTEs PATENTS 1,681,284 Dickie Aug. 21, 1928

